Title: Eldridge M. Fowler Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1805-1931

Creator:

• Fowler, Eldridge M. (Eldridge Merrick), 1833-1904

Call Number: McCormick Mss N

Quantity: 11.9 c.f. (24 archives boxes, 9 flat boxes, and 3 oversize folders)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers documenting the lumber and land-related business activities of Eldridge Fowler, brother of Nettie Fowler McCormick. Fowler was a highly successful timber baron in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. His companies included Fowler & Chapman of Bay City, Michigan. He was also president of the St. Anthony Lumber Company in Minnesota, and vice-president of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. Other business interests included investments in office buildings and docks in Chicago and Duluth; the H.W. Fowler Car Wheel Company; and the Tin Mountain (mining) Company in South Dakota.

Note:

Forms part of the McCormick Collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mcc0000n

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The collection includes incoming correspondence, letterpress copybooks with indexes, account books, bank statements, tax receipts, timber-cruising notebooks, and sectional maps; legal records for a number of Fowler's lumber and land businesses including logging estimates, lumber contracts, title abstracts, land deeds, contracts, agreements, mortgages, and options on mineral rights; and blueprints, specifications, contracts, receipts, contract payrolls and rent statements for buildings in Chicago and Duluth. There are a few files regarding the McCormick Estate, financial arrangements for the creation of International Harvester Company and a small amount of personal correspondence. Some financial and legal records (1805-1841) of Eldridge Fowler's father Melzar Fowler, uncle John N. Fowler and grandfather Anson Fowler are also included. Anson Fowler owned a mercantile store and ashery business in Jefferson County, New York.

The land survey plat maps primarily describe land in Minnesota in the 4th and 5th Principle Meridian, although there are some survey maps of Wisconsin and a few from Michigan. The survey maps, largely undated, are arranged by meridian and range. Included are the Minnesota counties of Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Cass, Carlton, Cook, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Lake County, Koochiching, Lake, Otter Tail, St Louis; Wisconsin counties of Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas; and Michigan counties of Chippewa, Dickinson, Gogebic, Oscoda, Otsego. Some survey maps have the wrong meridian marked on them.

Many of the lands surveyed were purchased by E.M. Fowler and his partners Simcoe Chapman and William C. Yawkey. Some of those purchases are documented in the Land and Lumber Businesses series. The logging estimate books, circa 1881–1900, contain maps of some of these same Minnesota and Wisconsin ranges, as well as the Michigan counties of Iosco, Roscommon. The books are arranged by meridian and range. Survey maps and logging estimates are also scattered through the tax, land deed and correspondence records. The land deeds, 1844-1897, primarily describe lands in the Michigan counties of Alcona, Arenac, Bay, Gladwin, Iosco, Presque Isle, Otsego and Roscommon, with a few from Wisconsin and Minnesota. They also contain timber contracts, tax receipts and limited correspondence. The deeds are arranged by state and range. The papers are arranged in two sections: “Melzar and Anson Fowler Financial Records” and “Eldridge M. Fowler Personal Papers.”

Acquisition Information

Accession Number: M90-048, M93-176

McCormick Mss N	Series: Melzar and Anson Fowler Financial Records
	Anson, John N. and Melzar Fowler
Box   28 Folder   1	Accounts, 1805-1836
Box   1 Folder   1	Account and docket books, 1822-1836
	John N. and Melzar Fowler
Box   1 Folder   2	Accounts, 1834-1835
	Judgments
Box   1 Folder   3-9	Photocopies, 1831-1841
Box   29	Leather wallet with original judgments, circa 1831
Box   1 Folder   10	Eldridge M., John N., and Melzar Fowler accounts, 1832-1862
Box   1 Folder   11	Fowler family financial statements, 1852-1856
Box   1 Folder   12	Merick, Fowler, Esselstyn ledger, 1864-1879
	Series: Eldridge M. Fowler Personal Papers	⇧
	Correspondence and Financial Records
Box   1 Folder   13	Biographical material, 1891-1931
	General
Box   2 Folder   1-3	Business diaries, 1897-1899
Box   2 Folder   4	Household and business account books, 1870-1874
Box   2 Folder   5	Incoming correspondence, 1882-1899
Box   3-5	Incoming correspondence, 1882-1899 (continued)
Box   6 Folder   1-3	Incoming correspondence, 1882-1899 (continued)
Box   6 Folder   4	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1885-1899
Box   27 Folder   1	Ashville letterpress book, 1897-1899
Box   28 Folder   2	Ashville and California letterpress book, 1897-1899
	Fowler & Chapman
Box   28 Volume   1	Account book, 1880 March-1885 February
Box   7 Folder   1	Correspondence and bank statements, Bay City, Michigan, 1880-1886
Box   8-13	Letterpress books, 1882-1895, 1897-1899
Box   7 Folder   2	Mississippi River lands, 1882-1885
Box   27 Folder   2	Standard & Life Insurance, H.W. Fowler Wheel Company, Tin Mountain, 1883-1892
	McCormick Estate Division
Box   7 Folder   3	Correspondence, circa 1884-1892
Box   28 Folder   3	Spreadsheet, undated
Box   7 Folder   4	McCormick Harvesting Company and other businesses, 1885-1904
Box   25 Folder   1	Minnland, 1886-1887 Note: Later St. Anthony Lumber Company.
	Moore Lumber
Box   26 Folder   1	Incoming correspondence, 1892-1895
Box   7 Folder   5	Letterpress books, 1897-1899
	Land and Logging Businesses
	General
Box   14 Folder   1	Land contract sales, Michigan and Minnesota, circa 1875-1894
Box   14 Folder   2	Taxes and insurance payments, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1889-1896
	Yawkey, Fowler & Chapman
Box   14 Folder   3	Minnesota lands, 1883-1884
Box   14 Folder   4	Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin lands, circa 1886-1887
Box   15 Folder   1	Canada, agreement regarding Patterson limit, 1881-1888
Box   15 Folder   2	Illinois, land purchases, 1860-1862
	Michigan
	Land Deeds
Box   15 Folder   3	Range 1 E, 1881-1886
Box   15 Folder   4	Range 2 E, 1880-1881
Box   15 Folder   5	Range 6 E, 1880-1882
Box   27 Folder   3	Range 7 E, 1880-1897
Box   30 Folder   1-3	Ranges 3E-5E
Box   31 Folder   1-2	Ranges 8E-9E
Box   32 Folder   1-2, 6-7	Ranges 2W-6W, 1844-1897
Box   15 Folder   6	Birney Lots, Bay City, 1873-1874
Box   31 Folder   3	Lester Lands, 1855-1874
	Lumber Contracts
Box   15 Folder   7	Lumber and land contracts, 1873-1885
Box   15 Folder   8	S. Chapman & Company, 1880-1883
	Tax Receipts
Box   33 Folder   1	General, 1869-1884
Box   33 Folder   2	Porterfield lands, 1873-1884
Box   15 Folder   9	Salt property account with E.G. Merick, 1866-1885
	State Tax Land Purchases
Box   33 Folder   3	General counties, 1875-1888
Box   33 Folder   4	Bay County, 1867-1878
	Minnesota
Box   16 Folder   1	Expired options for mines contracts, 1892-1895
Box   16 Folder   2	Fraser, Alec, account with Fowler and Yawkey, 1883
	Land Deeds
Box   32 Folder   1	General, 1883-1895
Box   32 Folder   2	Lands purchased at St. Cloud, 1883
Box   16 Folder   3	Mesabe iron lands, 1890-1896
Box   16 Folder   4	Walker, J.B., lands ledger, 1882-1883
	Duluth Land
Box   16 Folder   5	Bradley, Hartford & Company, 1871-1884
Box   32 Folder   3	Land deeds, 1871-1881
Box   16 Folder   6	Letters and statements, 1881-1887, undated
Box   32 Folder   8	Newspapers, 1882
Box   16 Folder   7	Wisconsin land deeds, 1880-1886
	Land Survey Plat Maps
	4th Principle Meridian
Box   34 Folder   1-5	Range West 3-28, 1857, undated
	5th Principle Meridian
Box   34 Folder   6-8	Range 25-38 W, undated
Box   16 Folder   8	Michigan-Toledo Strip, undated
Box   34 Folder   9	Notes, 1881-1887
	Logging Estimates, 1868-1899, undated
	4th Principle Meridian
Box   17 Folder   1-6	Ranges 2-35, circa 1882-1885, undated
Box   18 Folder   1-2	Ranges 2-35, circa 1882-1885, undated (continued)
	5th Principle Meridian
Box   18 Folder   3-4	Ranges 25-35, 1883-1891, undated
Box   19 Folder   1-4	Ranges 25-35, 1883-1891, undated (continued)
Box   20 Folder   1	Ranges 25-35, 1883-1891, undated (continued)
	4th and 5th Principle Meridian
Box   20 Folder   2	Logging estimates, 1886-1891
Box   32 Folder   4	Logging estimates, taxes, river lands, 1882
Box   20 Folder   3	Michigan-Toledo Strip, 1868-1884
Box   27 Folder   4	Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, circa 1890-1900
Box   21 Folder   1	Minnesota, 1892-1898
	Buildings
	Plymouth Place Building, Chicago, Illinois
	General
Box   21 Folder   2	Correspondence and receipts, 1897-1899
Box   21 Folder   3	Statement of contracts and payments, undated
Oversize Folder   1	Architectual drawings, undated
Box   21 Folder   4	Appleyard, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   5	City permits, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   6	Collins, J.M. & Company, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   7	Cook and Chick, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   8	Eaton & Prince, 1897
Box   21 Folder   9	Frost, Charles, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   10	Gindele, Charles, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   11	Hansell-Elcock Foundry, 1897-1898
Box   21 Folder   12	Party Walls, 1888-1897
Box   21 Folder   13	Pioneer Fireproof Construction, 1897
Box   21 Folder   14	Simpson Brothers Company, 1897
Box   21 Folder   15	Zander, August, Company, 1897-1898
	Duluth, Minnesota
Box   22 Folder   1	Duluth dock property mortgages, 1892-1895
	Fowler Building
	General
Box   32 Folder   5	Contracts and payrolls, 1899-1900
Box   22 Folder   2	American Heating; Powell & Company; Getty & Stevens; J. Blair; American Blower, 1896-1897
Box   22 Folder   3	Appleyard, 1899-1900
Box   22 Folder   4	Appleyard's statements, 1899-1900
Oversize Folder   2	Architectual drawings, undated
Oversize Folder   3	Blueprints, undated
Box   22 Folder   5	Bourgeault, Joseph, 1896-1898
Box   22 Folder   6	Carlson; Comstock and Company; Northwestern Iron Company; Farrell and Sullivan: Lyon & Company; Duluth Boiler Works, 1896-1897
Box   23 Folder   1	Gas and electric, 1899-1900
Box   23 Folder   2	Gilmore and Company; Columbian Fireproofing Company; North Western Boiler Company; A.R. Lundsten, 1896-1897
Box   23 Folder   3	Jones & Laughlins, 1896-1897
Box   23 Folder   4	Kinghom, A.; Deatz and Company; Duluth Plumbing Company; Dixon and Lowry, 1896-1898
Box   23 Folder   5	Plumbing contracts, 1896-1900
Box   23 Folder   6	Prindle, W.M. and Company, 1895-1899
Box   23 Folder   7	Reedy Elevator, 1899-1900
Box   24 Folder   1	Schlinnes; Crown Iron Work Company; Appleyard; German, 1896-1897
Box   24 Folder   2-4	Wenisch and Bourgeault, 1896-1897
Box   24 Folder   5	Michigan Street Building, 1897-1898